politicsenvironment 14 culturebusinesssports 2008 Queen Elizabeth II pays historic visit to Slovenia Parliament Inaugurated, Gantar elected speaker Janša: EU leaders took on consequences and reasons for crisis Slovenia Provides EUR 8bn in bank guarantees ISSN 1854-0805 QUotESofthEfortnight Milan Matos /Manager of Mladinska knjiga and initiator of the project/: Leading Publisher Issues Special Edition of Bible Ljubljana, 22 October - Mladinska knjiga issued a hand-bound Bible dec- orated with gilt edges, enfolded in leather and packed in a wooden box in a limited edition of only 1,000 copies at a full price of EUR 2,480 a copy. According to this is the biggest project in the history of the publishing house. Such an edition does not only have a great cultural value, but buying a copy is also a good investment in the economic sense and numerous Slovenians are well aware of that. One third of the books has already been sold at the pre-order price of EUR 1,980. The 1,056-page book contains the standard Slovenian translation of the Holly Scripture and illustrations of the crucial Biblical scenes. These are reproductions of paintings, made between 1000 and 1610 in European Roman Catholic countries from England to Romania.The works of art, which were once reserved for royal eyes only, have been copied using a special technique at the Austrian Na- tional Library in Vienna, where they are stored, but are not on display, over 100 illustrations were coated with gold foil. Andrej Bajuk /Finance Minister/: I Remain Optimistic in Face of Financial Crisis Washington, 12 October −I remain optimistic about Slovenia’s ability to cope with the global financial crisis, which is in the focus of the an- nual meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Washington. The situation of the Slovenian banks is really stable. These are not things that I could have invented in recent we- eks, but the result of findings that matters in our banks are far from being as complicated as elsewhere - this is so simply because our banks were not buying these papers (in reference to the repackaged mortgage bonds of US citizens.) But Slovenia is not an island and that problems could arise if the inter-bank market freezes. ≈There should be no problems because our banks have sufficient reserves to cover their commitments in the coming months. However, if the crisis persists and there is no solution that gets the inter-bank market going again, we could also be in trouble. He believes it is now vital to ensure that Slovenian banks continues to have access to the funds they had on disposal so far on the inter-bank market, and ≈if there is no other way, this will have to be done with support and guarantees from the state. Barbara Orel /The selector of the biggest Slovenian theatre fes- tival, the 43rd Borstnik Meeting/: Slovenian theatre is in good shape and responsible Maribor, 17 October - The productions display ≈a colourful diversity of type and genre, ranging from the ritual to radically political theatre. Social commitment and political awareness are typical of the Slovenian theatre. There is the keen interest for the issues concerning the Slovenian identity, which I decided to showcase in the accompanying programme themed ≈Nation, Theatre, Com- munity«. The programme will feature five productions. Trubarjev forum: Trubar’s Book Comes out in Modern Slovenian Ljubljana, 14 October The spelling-book ≈Abecedarium«, which along with ≈Catechism« represents the first Slovenian book, is now available in modern Slov- enian. 458 years after Primoz Trubar (1508-1586) it was published by Trubarjev forum. It is ironic that someone who is praised as the founder of the Slovenian language and the father of national identity should be read by just few experts, Trubarjev forum had thus made it its goal to translate the Protestant reformer's books into the modern standard Slovenian language. ≈This way we want to bring Trubar back to life,« Sukic said, hoping primary school students could once read Trubar as well. The first edition of ≈Abecedarium« will be intended for studies. It contains the original text on one page and the transla- tion on the other. The second, popular edition of the book will only contain the translation and will be cheaper to buy, Crnivec said and announced the publication of ≈Catechism« for next year. sinfo 14 2 Editorial: Government Communication Office, Director: Anže Logar, MSc, GregorËiËeva 25, 1000 Ljubljana, tel. +386 (0) 1 478 2605, fax +386 (0) 1 251 2312, www.ukom.gov.si, Editor-in-Chief: Vesna ŽarkoviË, [email protected], Editorial Board: Valentin Hajdinjak, Branko Vidrih, Gregor ©uc. Production editing: Nicha d.o.o., Translation: PSD d.o.o., Printed by: Littera Picta d.o.o., Number of copies: 4600 Available also at: www.ukom.gov.si/eng/slovenia/publication/sinfo Anæe Logar 10-11 QueeN elIzabeth II Pays Historic Visit to sloVenia ROyal SlOVeNIa The British Queen Elizabeth II. and the Duke of Edinburgh visited Slovenia. This past week everything revolved around this visit. Also, the international press reported on it extensively. The walk in the capital was attended by hosts of people who greeted the royal pair. The event was so picturesque that it overshadowed even the coordination talks of the future government comprised by the centre-left coalition, which were well directed at the media. The visit passed with impeccable organisation, which is not surprising after the six-month 'training' during the time of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU. Slovenia has not avoided the world financial crisis. The stock- exchange collapsed and banks became much more careful in offering loans. Despite that, the average citizen does not (yet) feel the crisis. The citizens' trust in the financial 17-18 INteRVIeW system remains adequate, to which the latest government Dr Peter Verli», state secretary at tHe also contributed by ensuring unlimited state guarantee for Ministry of transPort: it is alMost obVious deposits. tHat sloVenia will HaVe to introDuce Vignettes for sHorter PerioDs Slovenia is also witnessing the ninth month this year when temperatures are above average. That is probably one of the reasons that the income from tourism is a few per cent 25-27 - OuR eXCelleNCe higher than last year. But despite additional Euros in the state intra ligHting - wHen ligHting contributes treasury, such information cannot mean good news. Namely, to tHe creation of a builDing, exPeriences anD it warns that there is not much time left with regard to the feelings topic of climate changes. Despite the financial crisis. We also write about that in this issue of Sinfo. 32-34 - PeOPle Jure robežnik, tHe coMPoser sea of MoDesty in breaDtH of creatiVity 39-40 - I Feel SlOVeNIa tHe liPizzaner - syMbol of tHe liPica stuD farM, tHe karst region anD sloVenia Government Communication Office: www.ukom.gov.si Government Institutions: www.gov.si Slovenian Tourist Board: www.slovenia.info Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and Industry: www.gzs.si Slovenian Chamber of Craft: www.ozs.si Public Agency of the RS for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments: www.japti.si Ljubljana Stock Exchange: www.ljse.si Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia: www.stat.si State Portal of the Republic of Slovenia: http://e-uprava.gov.si Slovenian Presidency of the EU 2008: www.eu2008.si Cover photo: Queen elizabeth II pays historic visit to Slovenia, Photo: Sta 3 14 sinfo MoNthLYrEPort text: DaNIla gOlOb, Photo: Sta FM thaNkS DIPlOMatIC CORPS IN SlOVeNIa Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel organised on 16 September a traditional autumn get-together for the diplomatic corps in Slovenia. The diplomats visited the Snežnik and Prem castles in Notranjska and went on a tour of the famous Postojna karst cave, where Rupel thanked them for supporting Slovenia during its presidency. The presidency dealt with a number of issues of great importance to Europe and the Western Balkans, Rupel was quoted as saying in a press release from the Foreign Affairs Ministry. He believes that Slovenia’s position and reputation strengthened, and that it proved to be a reliable partner in the EU. SlOVeNIa, MaCeDONIa SIgN eu aFFaIRS COOPeRatION PROgRaMMe Slovenian EU Affairs State Secretary Barbra Borota and Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration interior Minister Dragutin Mate. Ivica Bocevski signed on 17 September a cooperation programme in EU affairs for 2008−09. The programme secures Slovenia’s reach agreement on the blue card due to opposition from the assistance in 67 areas as part of 21 negotiation chapters for newcomers. Macedonia’s accession to the EU. “Member States which joined [the EU] in 2004 or later cannot According to the Government Office for European Affairs agree to have movement, employment or dwelling restrictions (SVEZ), the programme primarily deals with the areas of finance, while the EU searches for solutions and proposals to enable economics, regional policy, the environment, consumer and migrations of workforce from third countries,” he added. health protection, customs, justice and internal affairs. Mate pointed out that citizens from third countries should get Slovenia will provide assistance to Macedonia chiefly through work permits and move relatively freely across the EU only after counselling and by passing on its experience gained during all restrictions for EU members are removed. accession talks with the EU, SVEZ said. “I can’t imagine a politician who could face the media at home Borota signed the programme with Bocevski as part of her two- and say: ‘We accepted this proposal, so that you, our citizens, day working visit to Macedonia, which was aimed at boosting will be worse off than the citizens of third countries.’ This is cooperation between the countries and reassuring Slovenia’s unacceptable,” the minister declared.